Goodrich Chauncey was a lawyer and United States senator. He was a member of the state legislature and a then was elected to Congress.
Background
Goodrich Chauncey was the eldest son of Elizur and Catharine (Chauncey) Goodrich and brother of the younger Elizur Goodrich. He was born on October 20, 1759, at Durham, Connecticut. He grew up in a home which represented the best standards of New England culture of that period.
Education
Goodrich was graduated with distinction at Yale in 1776, and taught for a time in the Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven.
He studied law.
Career
After graduation, Goodrich taught for a time in the Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven. From 1779 to 1781 he was a tutor at Yale and at the same time studied law. After admission to the bar he settled at Hartford where he soon established a considerable practice. By inheritance, training, profession, and social position he was fully qualified for membership in that Federalist politico-ecclesiastical oligarchy which governed the state until 1818. In 1793 he became a member of the state legislature and a year later was elected to Congress. A stalwart Federalist, he revealed in his correspondence with his brother-in-law, Oliver Wolcott, during these years both the statesmanship and the limited vision which characterized so many leaders of that party. Goodrich remained in Congress until 1801, and his speeches on the Jay Treaty and on the Foreign Intercourse Bill disclosed a high order of ability. After resigning from Congress in 1801 he resumed the practice of law at Hartford, re-entering politics as a member of the Council in 1802 and serving until 1807 when he was elected to the United States Senate. As senator he was praised by the Federalists for his sturdy opposition to the Embargo and other restrictive policies of the Republican majority, and criticized by the Republicans as an obstructionist of questionable loyalty. In 1813 he was elected lieutenant-governor of Connecticut and resigned from the Senate. A year earlier he had been elected mayor of Hartford and he retained both local offices until his death. His health had begun to fail, but he took a prominent part in the Hartford Convention of 1814. His shortcomings were those of the local group and sectional school of political thought to which he belonged. Goodrich died on August 18, 1815 in Hartford, Connecticut.
Achievements
Politics
A stalwart Federalist, he revealed in his correspondence with his brother-in-law, Oliver Wolcott during these years both the statesmanship and the limited vision which characterized so many leaders of that party.
As senator, he was praised by the Federalists for his sturdy opposition to the Embargo and other restrictive policies of the Republican majority, and criticized by the Republicans as an obstructionist of questionable loyalty.
Personality
Goodrich's shortcomings were those of the local group and sectional school of political thought to which he belonged.
Quotes from others about the person
Theodore Dwight, a contemporary, in his history of that ill-starred gathering remarks of Goodrich, “Rarely has any individual passed through so many scenes in public life with a higher reputation, and a more unimpeachable character. ”
Connections
Goodrich's first wife, Abigail Smith, died in September 1788 and on October 13, 1789, he married Mary Ann Wolcott, thus establishing an alliance with one of the families which had long exercised a dominating influence in Connecticut affairs.